american english accent

7/31/2019 American English Accent

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Consonant Sounds


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/b/ -bad, lab

/d/ -did, lady

/f /-find, if /g /-give, flag

/h /-how, hello

/j /-yes,yellow /k/ -cat, back

/l /-leg, little

/m /-man, lemon

/n/ -no, ten

// - sing, finger

/p /-pet, map

/r /-red, try

/s /-sun, miss //-she, crash

/t /-tea, getting


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/t/ check, church

// think, both

/ /this, mother

/v /voice, five /w/ wet, window

/z /zoo, lazy

/ /pleasure, vision /d/just, large


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The t soundbecomes voiced and ispronounced like a quick d soundwhen it occurs inthe middle of a word after a vowel sound or r sound

(including all r-controlled vowels) and before avowel sound, r sound(including all r-controlledvowels) or a syllabic l sound.

Example: Water WaderCity Cidy


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The t is a regular, aspirated t soundwhen itis the first sound of a word or a stressed

syllable .

Example: Tape

Pat

Trap


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The [t]is held when there is an [n] after [t], strictlysaying, it is not a [t] at all. If you have [n] immediatelyafter [t], you don't pop the [t]the tongue is in the [t]position, but your release the air for the [n] not the [t].An important point to remember is that you need asharp upward sliding intonation up to the "held T,"then a quick drop for the N.

Example: Written-Wrin

Kitten-Kin


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The letter t is optionally omitted (not said) when it followsan n soundand precedes a vowel sound, r sound(includingall r-controlled vowels) or a syllabic l sound.

In addition to the above instances of omitting the t sound,

it is often omitted when it occurs between two consonantsounds (except the consonants specifically mentioned forthe quick d soundand glottal stop).

Example: Winter-Winner

Interview-Innerview

Center-Cenner


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To form the American English "r", follow these steps in thisorder:

Make a circle with your lips. Open your mouth slightly

Curl the tip of your tongue up toward the roof of yourmouth,but make sure it does NOT touch anything.

With the tip of your tongue curled up, you should also beable to feel the middle part of your tongue raised up towardthe roof of your mouth, just where the arch is (the part ofthe roof of your mouth that is the highest).

You may also be able to feel the sides of your tonguepressing against your upper side teeth in the back of yourmouth


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The M consonant. This sound is simply made bypressing the lips together lightly, mm, mm, whilemaking a sound with the vocal cords, mm, mm.

The M consonant sound is one of the few soundsin American English where the soft palate remainsdown like the mouth at rest. This allows air to pass upover the soft palate, which results in the sound feelingsomewhat in the nose, which is why it is categorized asa nasal consonant


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The Voiceless th- keep your mouth slightly open sothere is just enough space to place the tip of yourtongue between your upper and lower teeth. Flattenthe tip of your tongue and touch the tip of your upper

teeth. Push out a voiceless stream of air over thetongue through your teeth.

The Voiced th - keep your mouth slightly open sothere is just enough space to place the tip of your

tongue between your upper and lower teeth. Flattenthe tip of your tongue and touch the tip of your upperteeth. Push out a voiced air over the tongue throughyour teeth.


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There is a voiced and unvoiced f sounds. Thesesounds happen when we place our bottom lip lightlyagainst our upper teeth, and push air through thesmall space between the teeth and the lip.

Examples: leaf, leavefew, viewrefuse, reviewsproof, prove


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The s sound is much like the unvoiced while the zsound is the voiced.

In pronouncing s is made with the teeth nearlyclosed in a natural bite position and the lips parted asthough smiling. The sides of the tongue are raisedagainst the upper side teeth. The tip of the tongue mayvary as to the position but is usually raise toapproximate a place behind the upper front teeth. Thetongue should form a groove down the center, throughwhich the breath is directed in a continuous stream.While z is much more stressed.


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's' is often pronounced /z/ when it comes between twovowel sounds (NB: not vowels, but vowel sounds), unlessit's doubled.

House = /s/ because the 's' is the final sound in the wordHousing = /z/ because the 's' is surrounded by /au/ and /I/

But there are so many exceptions it's ridiculous.There's often a difference to distinguish two similar words:loose = /s/lose = /z/

yet there's sometimes no difference when there should beand it would be useful:desert = /z/dessert = /z/


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Stops[p,t,k,b,d,g]- Light puffs or expulsion;producedwith the air passage completely closed and thensuddenly opened permitting release of air.

Fricatives[f,v,,

,h,s,,z,]-

Produced with anarrowing of the oral cavity and grooving of thetongue.

Affricatives[t, d]- Both stops and fricatives, temporary

closure and release, and grooving of the tongue. Nasal[m,n]-produced when the air stream passes throught

the nose cavity.


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Lateral[l]- Produced eith the center of the oral cavityobstructed by the tongue so that the air passes alongone or both sides of the tongue.

Retroflex[r]- Begins with a backward movement ofthe tongue.

Semi Vowels[w,y]- Have the characteristics of bothvowels and consonants; free flow air and stricture inthe oral cavity.

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